Italy’s vacation hotspot wants to ban new Airbnbs

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky last week discussed the hot topic of cleaning fees, primarily as it relates to the short-term rental company’s plans to move toward upfront pricing.

After a sleepless night on an overnight train from Berlin to Vienna, I couldn't wait to check into my Airbnb in the Austrian city. 

“Basilicata has always been poor – even the mafia didn’t bother us,” my guide, Nicola, smiled. It’s a Iine I heard a lot in this improbable region. Paradoxically, it has enough oil to make a Texan envious – yet for decades it was known only as ‘Italy’s shame’.

I have the privilege to live in Rome, Italy's capital, and a pilgrimage destination for tourists worldwide. 

Formally established in 1718, the city of New Orleans has been a world-class tourist destination for decades thanks to its thriving nightlife scene and spectacular array of restaurants—and its booming tourism industry has also given rise to some incredible hotels. Spanning from the heart of the CBD to the inner reaches of the Garden District, these lavish spaces all offer stunning accommodations and a wealth of incredible drinking and dining venues found within their walls, showcasing the incredible culture of New Orleans for guests to explore without having to set foot outside their hotel.

In earlier eras, notables such as Theodore Roosevelt, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, Thoreau, Emerson, Sinclair Lewis held court on the grounds of Troutbeck, a private estate since the 1700s in the eastern stretch of the Hudson Valley. These days, since reopening as a resort in 2017, the property is still a cultural gathering place on its 250 acre, Lower Berkshires spread but now the guests are mostly serenity seeking New Yorkers up from the city a two hour drive or train ride away. (Out of staters also fly into Stewart International Airport an hour away). And there are new additions and others in the works to attract them all.

After a tumultuous month in New York City that led to thousands of Airbnb delistings, the short-term rental giant is focusing on Paris and other European cities. 

Six weeks after my first trip to Italy, the fresh mozzarella I brought home is long gone, and so is the hard salami and pistachio-flavored chocolate. To squeeze a bit more from my Mediterranean experience, I can rely a little while longer on the tube of Elmex-brand toothpaste I used to brush away all that food. For as long as it lasts, each day starts and ends with an ingredient called “Fluoruro Amminico,” which I assume has to do with fluoride but haven’t bothered to translate. The lingering sense of wonder it evokes is something I would rather not name.

The Eagles in the fall, the South 9th Street Italian Market Festival in the spring, ice skating at Dilworth Plaza in the winter or strolling Independence National Historical Park in the spring – Philadelphia is a city graced with all four seasons. 

Consider it the year of Italy for IHG Hotels & Resorts.

As the leaves start turning, Delta Air Lines is already gearing up to whisk you away for your dream summer vacation.

Manhattan’s Lower East Side has always been known for its gritty edge. This is the place where immigrants, arriving from Ellis Island and typically holed up in a tenement apartment, had their first view of New York, and indeed of their version of the ‘Great American Dream’. As a consequence, there is still a strong presence felt of a wide variety of different communities and cultures – from Jewish to Italian. In fact, at the crossroads with China Town, Little Italy and SoHo, you still feel as if you are in the heart of the city’s infamous melting pot which makes this city so diverse and exhilarating.